Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 116,250 at the 2010 U.S. Census, which makes it the state's sixth most-populous city, the second largest outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the largest in central Illinois. As of 2019, the city's population was estimated to have decreased to 114,230, with just over 211,700 residents living in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Sangamon County and the adjacent Menard County.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Combining traditional scholarship with 21st-century showmanship techniques, the museum ranks as one of the most visited presidential libraries. Its library, in addition to housing an extensive collection on Lincoln, also houses the collection of the Illinois State Historical Library, founded by the state in 1889. The library and museum is located in the state capital of Springfield, Illinois, and is overseen as an agency of state government. It is not affiliated with the U.S. National Archives and its system of libraries.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States. The presidential memorial includes the four blocks surrounding the home and a visitor center.
Mordecai Lincoln was an uncle of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was the eldest son of Captain Abraham Lincoln, a brother of Thomas Lincoln and Mary Lincoln Crume, and the husband of Mary Mudd. Lincoln is buried at the Old Catholic or Lincoln Cemetery near Fountain Green, Illinois.
The Dana–Thomas House is a home in Prairie School style designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built 1902–04 for patron Susan Lawrence Dana, it is located along East Lawrence Avenue in Springfield, Illinois. The home reflects the mutual affection of the patron and the architect for organic architecture, the relatively flat landscape of the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Japanese aesthetic as expressed in Japanese prints.
U.S. Route 66 was a United States Numbered Highway in Illinois that connected St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. The historic Route 66, the Mother Road or Main Street of America, took long distance automobile travelers from Chicago to Southern California. The highway had previously been Illinois Route 4 (IL 4) and the road has now been largely replaced with Interstate 55 (I-55). Parts of the road still carry traffic and six separate portions of the roadbed have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Ulysses S. Grant Home in Galena, Illinois is the former home of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general and later 18th President of the United States. The home was designed by William Dennison and constructed in 1859 - 1860. The home was given to Grant by residents of Galena in 1865 as thanks for his war service, and has been maintained as a memorial to Grant since 1904.
The David Davis Mansion, also known as Clover Lawn, is a Victorian home in Bloomington, Illinois that was the residence of David Davis, Supreme Court justice (1862–1877) and Senator from Illinois. The mansion has been a state museum since 1960. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, David Davis Mansion was selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component.
Washington Park Historic District, also known as Washington Square is a historic district in and around Washington Park in the city of Ottawa, Illinois, United States. Washington Park was the site of the first Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 and is surrounded by several historic structures. The park was platted in 1831 and the historic district was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The Andrew J. O'Conor III House, also referred to as "Riverbend" and "Buena Vista," is a historic home in the city of Ottawa, Illinois, United States. The structure that exists today was originally constructed in 1848 and underwent major remodeling in 1922. The house was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
Charles Herrick Hammond (1882–1969), commonly known as C. Herrick Hammond, was a Chicago architect.
The Belvidere North State Street Historic District is a historic district on the north side of the Kishwaukee River in Belvidere, Illinois. It is primarily composed of commercial building representative of architectural trends from 1865 to 1962. The district has remained largely intact since the mid-1930s.
The Old Custom House is a historic government building in downtown Cairo, Illinois. Built from 1869 to 1872, the building served as a customs house, post office, and courthouse. Alfred B. Mullett, the U.S. Supervising Architect at the time, designed the building in the Italianate style, a rarity among federal buildings; his design features a bracketed cornice and rounded windows. When Cairo built a new post office in 1942, the building became the town's police station. The building is one of the few surviving U.S. custom houses and one of the largest federal buildings of its era in the Mid-Mississippi Valley region.
The Fithian House is a historic house located at 116 N. Gilbert St. in Danville, Vermilion County Illinois. The Italianate house was built in 1855 for William Fithian. Fithian was a physician and a politician who served in the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate. In addition, Fithian donated land for and was the namesake of Fithian, Illinois, a Vermilion County village located west of Danville. Abraham Lincoln was a close friend of Fithian's, and while visiting Danville during his 1858 senatorial campaign, he stayed in the house and gave a speech from its second-floor balcony.
The Camp Lincoln Commissary Building is a historic building on the grounds of Camp Lincoln, a National Guard camp in Springfield, Illinois. Built in 1903, the commissary is the oldest building remaining at Camp Lincoln. The camp, which opened in 1886, had previously used tents or temporary buildings for most of its activities, and the commissary soon became the camp's center of activity; it has served as a headquarters, barracks, hospital, and physical examination center at various points. The Culver Stone Company, which constructed several of Springfield's public buildings, built the commissary. The rusticated limestone building is designed to resemble a castle, as it features turrets and battlements along its roof. The building now houses a military museum.
The Howard K. Weber House is a historic house located at 925 South 7th Street in Springfield, Illinois. While the house was built in the 1840s, its current design comes from a series of additions and renovations which began in 1878. However artifacts discovered in the basement date around the 1820s. Howard K. Weber, a prominent local banker, started this renovation process shortly after buying the house. The house's new design was primarily Italianate, as the style was then nationally popular; its influence can be seen in the asymmetrical plan, the low hip roof with a bracketed cornice, and the arched windows. The house also exhibits a late Victorian influence in its more detailed elements, particularly the first-floor bay windows and the Gothic moldings on the second floor.
The Clarkson W. Freeman House is a historic house located at 704 West Monroe Street in Springfield, Illinois. The house was built in 1878 for farmer and businessman Clarkson W. Freeman. The two-story house has an Italianate design with an "L"-shaped plan, an asymmetrical front porch, a bay window and bracketed cornice on the east side, and long, narrow windows with decorative heads. Ornate Carpenter Gothic trim decorates the top of the porch and gables, including the false gable above the porch; no other house in Springfield has trim with the same level of detail.
The Rippon-Kinsella House is a historic house located at 1317 North Third Street in Springfield, Illinois. The house was most likely built in 1871 for businessman John Rippon, Jr. Its original design was a simple Italianate plan; the style can still be seen in its bracketed eaves and its long arched windows with round hoods. Rippon sold the house in 1891, and after passing through several other owners it was bought by Richard "Dick" Kinsella in 1899. Kinsella ran a local wallpaper and paint business, worked as a scout for the New York Giants baseball team, and was a prominent Sangamon County Democrat. In 1905, Kinsella remodeled his house to incorporate Classical elements; the house's porch with Doric columns and its high-pitched roof were added at this time. Classical Revival architecture was popular in both new and remodeled houses in Springfield at the time, and the more traditional Italianate houses were well-suited to renovations; the house is one of the best-preserved examples of these hybrid designs.
The Virgil Hickox House is a historic house located at 518 East Capitol Avenue in Springfield, Illinois. The house, the only one remaining in downtown Springfield, was built in 1839 for Virgil Hickox and his family. Hickox was a prominent Springfield businessman who helped bring the city its first rail line, an extension of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. In addition, Hickox was a successful attorney and political figure; he chaired the Democratic State Committee for twenty years and was an associate of both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. The Hickox family remodeled their house several times; when they moved out in 1880, it had largely taken its present form, with an Italianate design featuring bracketed eaves and long arched windows.
The Caldwell Farmstead is a historic farmhouse located on Illinois Route 4 north of Chatham, Sangamon County, Illinois. The two-story Towered Italianate house was built in 1876. The red brick house features detailed joint work on the corners and groups of tall windows with molded hoods. A front porch supported by Roman columns runs along the front of the house. Decorative brackets adorn the wide eaves of the house's hip roof. A three-story tower with a steeply sloped cupola, the principal element of the Towered Italianate style, rises above the front entrance. The house is one of the few Towered Italianate homes in Central Illinois; similarly styled homes in the Springfield area include the George M. Brinkerhoff House and the Rippon-Kinsella House.
